Lydia Tumbaga Brumblay interviewed by Toby Baylon

In this interview, originally recorded via Zoom, Lydia Tumbaga Brumblay speaks with Watsonville is in the Heart team member Toby Baylon. Lydia speaks about her father, Benny Tumbaga’s experience migrating to the United States from San Fernando, La Union, Philippines in 1926. She describes Benny’s and his relatives’ work in restaurants in Portland, Seattle, and San Francisco as well as Benny’s experiences as a musician. Lydia also discusses her own experiences growing up and going to school in Watsonville followed by her decision to move to Hawai‘i later in life. Throughout the interview, Lydia shares her perspective on the shifting racial dynamics and demographics in Watsonville during the early twentieth century, the 1960s and 1970s, and the 1990s and early 2000s. She also discusses her “colorblind” approach to race which she states was instilled in her through her father and her multicultural upbringing in Watsonville. Lydia’s analysis of contemporary migrant communities in Watsonville is informed by her perspective of the racial reckoning during the summer 2020.

Lydia Tumbaga Brumblay and Toby Baylon

May 20, 2021

Watsonville is in the Heart (WIITH) is a community-driven public history initiative to preserve and uplift stories of Filipino migration and labor in the city of Watsonville and greater Pajaro Valley. All oral history interviews are donated to WIITH by the narrators. Copyright is held by WIITH. Oral history interview recordings and transcripts are available for unrestricted use and reproduction by educators and researchers. Please note that the recordings on this website are provided via Soundcloud. For access to oral history audio files, please contact the project director at wiith@ucsc.edu. If you are an oral history narrator and would like to remove your interview from the archive website, please contact the project director.

English

Oral History

Toby Baylon

Lydia Tumbaga Brumblay

Zoom

.mp4

1:30:24

[0:00] Biographical information for Lydia and her father, Benny Tumaga
[0:46] Benny’s migration from the Philippines to Oregon then throughout the Pacific Northwest
[3:22] Benny’s seasonal work in Alaska and experiences as a musician
[5:16] Biographical information about the Tumbaga children
[6:08] Lydia discusses her father’ silences about Anti-Filipino racism he may have experienced during his early life in the United States
[8:37] Tumbaga family settling in Watsonville and beginning farming berries
[12:15] Discussion of racial dynamics in Watsonville during the 1960s and 1970s and Lydia’s understanding of Watsonville as a multicultural and “colorblind” community
[13:23] Benny’s leisure activities
[14:42] Lydia’s perspective on how her father’s decision not to discuss Anti-Filipino racism instilled a “colorblind” ideology in her
[16:11] Discussion of the Tumbaga band
[17:51] Multicultural and interracial dynamics in Watsonville and Hawai’i
[18:49] Lydia’s opinion that race and racism does not affect access to opportunities available in America
[19:44] Lydia’s decision to move to Hawai’i
[21:32] Discussion of the Tumbaga band
[22:10] “Social Box” events in the Watsonville Filipino community
[27:25] Lydia’s perspective of on racial and demographic change in Watsonville as well as contemporary migrant communities in the region
[35:26] Lydia’s experiences at Watsonville High School
[37:00] Lydia’s brothers’ military service
[43:13] Lydia’s opinion that race and racism does not affect access to opportunities available in America
[45:25] Lydia’s reflects on her upbringing and her father’s immigrant experience through the lens of the racial reckoning in the United States that began during the summer of 2020 and contemporary culture war issues
[53:22] Lydia’s move to Hawai’i and her work in the airline industry
[1:07:06] Lydia’s fondest memories of her father
[1:15:14] Food and family gatherings
[1:22:13] Benny’s passing in 1991 and his last months living with Lydia in Hawai’i